Denmark

From 1994 to 2004 the Danish national team was very successful and crowned Olympic champions (1996, 2000, 2004), world champions (1997) and European champions (1994, 1996, 2002). However, this success was followed by an 11-year medal drought, which finally ended in 2013 when they won bronze at the World Championship.

From the under 17 to the under 19 generations, the Danes are on top with gold to their name in the 2015 younger age category summer events and they will hope to build on this youth and junior success in the coming major tournaments.

At the EHF EURO 2014 they disappointingly finished in 8th. The result of this was that Jan Pytlick was replaced by former Danish international coach Klavs Bruun Jörgensen. He steered Denmark successfully through qualification, in which they placed second behind Russia, and to the quarter-final at the Women's World Championship 2015 on home court.

Upcoming Matches

Anne Mette Hansen

The 22-year-old left back had her international breakthrough at the Women's World Championship 2015 in Denmark at which she scored 36 goals and was also awarded as the tournament's best young player. Anne Mette Hansen is no stranger to winning medals. With Denmark's youth and junior teams she won bronze at the Women's 19 EHF EURO 2013, gold at the Youth World Championship 2012 and silver at the Women's 17 EHF EURO 2011.

Her trademark is a unique physical ability paired with shots of great variety. These two qualities make her an asset on both ends of the court. She has already scored more than 100 international goals and will be participating at her fourth major championship in Sweden this December. The København Håndbold player was also the first ever female player to be selected for the Wall of Fame in her former club, Ajax – the club in Denmark with most members.

Stine Jørgensen

With 48 goals to her name, Stine Jørgensen was the Danish top scorer at the Women’s World Championship 2015 in Denmark last December. Her additional 22 assists turned her into one of the key players for Denmark during the championship. Jørgensen primarily plays left back but coach Klavs Bruun Jørgensen wanted her to be more dominant on the court and moved her to the playmaker position where her eye for her teammates gave Denmark the upper hand in many games and made room for Anne Mette Hansen on the left back.

Jørgensen debuted for Denmark when she was 20 years old and participated at every major championship since 2011. As of September 2016 Jørgensen has scored 264 goals in 95 international matches making her one of the most experienced players in the Danish squad. With her club FC Midtjylland she won the Cup Winners' Cup in 2015.

The Danish national team coach Klavs Bruun Jørgensen has been in the game for decades as he started playing handball almost 40 years ago. He started his professional career at Virum-Sorgenfri and also played for SG Wallau-Massenheim in Germany as well as Danish giants GOG, FCK Handball and AG København, winning multiple national titles on the way. Internationally, he played 185 matches for Denmark, scoring 440 goals.

In 2010 his coaching career took off at AG København as a playing coach. After that he had spells at Nordsjælland, Team Tvis Holstebro and as assistant coach for the Danish men’s national team during the EHF EURO 2014 before he appointed as the Danish Women’s National Team coach in June 2015.

The Danish coach expects his team to go through to the main round of the Women’s EHF EURO 2016. However, things are prone to get difficult as Denmark's opponents will then come from Group D. "Even if Denmark manage to bring points to the main round, it could prove difficult to go on to the final round with the likes of Norway, Russia and Romania as the main round opponents," says Jørgensen.